Herc-Higher Education Recruitment Consortium

Department: IT Cyber Proc & Info Platform
Salary/Grade: ITS/79

Job Summary:

The IT Systems Administrator helps manage Northwestern University critical IT Infrastructure. In this role, the occupant will provide technical support, automation, and consulting for IT related initiatives that strive to meet or exceed operational demand. This role is focused on IT automation of both on premise or cloud-based environments.

Other duties include participating in efforts and projects related to the design, installation, operation, support, upgrade, and maintenance of infrastructure components including software, servers, networking and storage. Customer service responsibilities include providing user support for server hosting requests, problem resolution, system changes, and upgrades.  Role assists with enabling automation and self-service across our IT Infrastructure.  This includes ensuring that all aspects of operability are delivered as part of the implementation process, while also maintaining and improving service levels.

Operational responsibilities include analyzing and reporting on infrastructure performance, making recommendations for improvement, and resolving problems. Role contributes to and ensures full compliance to operational standards, procedures, and best practices as defined by Northwestern IT and Industry Standards.

Completes system installation and management, system monitoring and performance tuning, diagnostics and troubleshooting, user support coordination, backup and storage management, data center maintenance, and other related tasks. 

Please note: 37.5 minimum hours per week, Monday through Friday, plus occasional evening and weekend work.  24 x 7 On call rotational schedule (averages one week per month).

Specific Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning

• Provides recommendations regarding infrastructure planning and budgeting. 
• Participates in evaluation solutions to address University needs and goals.
• Maintains architectural and knowledge-based documentation.
• Provides technical, process, and automation contributions for future IT initiatives.
• Demonstrates ability to contribute to and help set objectives, measures and metrics, financial feasibility, and constructively participate in collaborative opportunities with other internal and external organizations.                                                                   

Administration

• Ensures data/media recoverability by implementing a schedule of system backups and database archive operations.
• Supports media management through internal methods and procedures or through offsite storage and retrieval services.
• Develops and promotes standard operating procedures.
• Conducts routine infrastructure audits to ensure compliance with established standards, policies, and configuration guidelines.
• Develops and maintains a comprehensive infrastructure configuration database/library of all supporting documentation.
• Creates and maintains user accounts, security, permissions, and file systems in accordance with standards and operational requirements.
• Analyzes data, endorses & implements changes & improvement to better ensure attainment of the IT mission.
• Participates in the established change review process                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Development

• Performs infrastructure installations and upgrades.
• Schedules installations and upgrades and maintains them in accordance with established IT policies and procedures.
• Automates technical procedures and solutions

Performance

• Monitors and tunes the system to achieve optimum performance levels.
• Ensures infrastructure integrity by evaluating, implementing, and managing appropriate solutions.
• In collaboration with system administrators, performs ongoing support and maintenance for systems and related applications.
• Prioritizes, troubleshoots, and resolves issues.
• Builds relationships and cultivates professional networks within the University.
• Adheres to all Northwestern IT best practice and Core Foundation principles when administering systems and interacting with any member of the Community
• Adequately documents any changes made to University IT Systems in accordance with best practices       
• Escalates high-priority issues to IT leadership consistent with current Northwestern IT practices

Supervises

• Manages small project efforts

Miscellaneous

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as computer science, information technology, or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• 2 years system administration or other relevant experience required.
• Please see information highlighted in tables below.
• Linux operating system skills (Services, security, networking, and file system).
• Scripting and automation tool experience.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• 2 Years implementing infrastructures-as-code or other relevant experience.
• Thorough knowledge of general application architecture, infrastructure, and identity management
• Proficient Installing, configuring supporting Linux infrastructure environment
• Customer focused and ability to understand customer needs
• Strong oral and written and communication skills.
• Ability to influence teams, peers, managers, and build productive working relationships across the organization while dealing with ambiguity.
• Experience with current industry best practices and standards for Infrastructure management methodology and techniques.
• Understanding of scripting languages such as python, PowerShell, terraform, and BASH in the context of infrastructure-as-code.
• Experience with public cloud frameworks such as AWS, Azure, or GCP (IAAS and PAAS)

Preferred Qualifications:

• 2-4 years’ experience working on mid to large scale environments with 3-tier applications.
• 3 years of systems administration or equivalent experience.
• 2-4 years’ experience with Red hat Linux Systems administration or equivalent experience.
• Strong troubleshooting skills with the ability to understand how an enterprise application is designed (Network, application, Database, Storage, Server).
• 2-4 years’ of installing, supporting, and managing Operating Systems and applications.
• Technical ability to translate business requirements into actionable information technology tasks.
• Experience delivering Technical solutions against desired business outcomes.
• Experience testing, evaluating, documenting, and communicating product and technical benefits to solutions.
• Experience working in a team setting with a scheduled On-call support rotation.

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Strong Knowledge of industry Information Technology best practices.
• Advanced Planning and organizational skills.
• Strong Collaboration and Communication skills.
• Ability to explain complex technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrates logic, rationality, and objectivity.

Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life’s challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at